Nutritional supplements

I recently bought some commercially made Russian Kvas.

It comes in a 2-liter [tag]plastic soda bottle[/tag] with printed label half inEnglish half in Russian from a place in Ontario, Canada called “All StarsBakery”.

Ingredients: Water, Malt, Bread Crumbs, Bacterial Culture, Fructose,Raisins.

It looks and smells like beer. It tastes like a sweet beer, or a soursoda, a mix between beer and soda. There is no alcohol taste but it isdefinatly there %1 or less. I now understand why it is the national drinkof Russia. Good stuff although I’d prefer it without the malt andfructose. General feeling of increased energy and slight intoxicationwithout the tired effect normally found with alcohol.

Could anyone in this wise group pleasetell me if there is [tag]oxalic acid[/tag] in beetkvass? If so is it nuetralized be thefermentation? Just trying to figure outif I should keep making this stuff.

I haven’t tasted the ginger version yet, but the regular style waseffervescent, slightly yeasty and sweet.

But now I went to transfer the grain back to more juice (with the extrayeast from the last batch) and it sunk. This can’t be good. Whathappened? Should I start over? Is it dead? I had put it in milk for aday as Darrell suggested, and all was fermenting fine.

On the bright side, I received more grains in the mail just now Ihadn’t even ordered more. I’ll have to fess up and pay, but it seemsthe kefir gods are most forgiving.

I guess I will just divvy them up; some strictly milk, some sacrificedfor beer.

I have some cabbbage I lacto fermented using the keeping fresh bookrecipe and I’m wanting to use it but I had a question. Doeseveryone just throw out the “juice” in the jar? Would that begood? And one more question…I’ve read in the internet that rawmilk isn’t good for pregnancy. Can this be true? I hate to give upmy raw goat milk.

Saw the post on the [tag]garlic syrup[/tag] and wonder why one would add glycerin. Seemsthe syrup would be fine without it. Just wondering.

I am interested in learning how to make beet kvass. I tried therecipe in Nourishing Traditions, but I did not know if I made itcorrectly.

Does the “Pottenger Liver Cocktail” recipe in NT call for freshtomato juice? I haven’t made fresh tomato juice but I imagine itwouldn’t be strong enough to disguise the flavor of liver. A V-8 typedrink would require cooked tomato juice, I think, as V-8 does tastesimilar to tomato sauce, as I recall. Anyway, just asking as I don’twant to use canned tomato products, or anything canned, really. Ihave high aluminum according to a hair analysis. I’m also somewhatlost as to what kind of cookware to use after reading the frypanthread.. I bought a [tag]cast iron[/tag] recently, but I guess I’ll go for anenameled one. Though I haven’t been cooking much at all..

Any other ideas for disguising raw liver? I don’t think I am mentallyprepared to eat it plain. =)Though, honestly, I don’t even know whether it would taste bad tome.. I’ve only heard from others.

I am wondering if “tea” made from raw beef has the same sort ofgood-for-you-ness that eating raw beef does. I just came across a recipefor the tea that simply calls for 1/2 pound of lean hamburger soaked for 1/2hour in 1 cup of water. Strain, salt and drink. I have a [tag]freezer[/tag] full ofgrass fed beef so I’m trying different recipes. What do you think?

Last time I made NT’s apple cider, I found it too sweet. This time I dilutedthe [tag]apple juice[/tag] with [tag]green tea[/tag] ( I also add less salt than the recipe). Thenfermented in a tea-towel covered bowl as per the recipe (skimming off the foametc). Just thought I’d reported that it’s yummy!! and not too sweet.

So about using lemon juice or vinegar instead of HCl.. now I don’t rememberwho posted about that, (after skimming through all those messages it’s awonder I can think at all).. but yeah, I’ve been using more lemon juice andvinegar lately and it seems to make a difference. Now I’m thinking maybe mycraving tomatoes has something to do with the acidity.

I just squirt lemon juice on anything, especially for salad dressing, andput it in tea. I don’t think adding a sweet taste to it like stevia wouldaffect the acidity. As long as I can taste the acidity, it seems to help.If it’s so well hidden in foods that I can’t taste it, it doesn’t seem tohave much effect. That’s just my own experience.

I keep a bottle of ACV on the kitchen table (not pretty, but that’s how itgoes) so that can be added to foods like veggies, salads and soups rightthere. And a squirt of lemon juice in a glass of water with a drop of honeyand some grated ginger is one of my favorite things.